Monday, February 14, 2011

Getting close now

Getting close to pulling the trigger on my big project. I spoke at length with Chris from Maintenance Express today, and asked him to put together a more extensive quote which includes a worse case estimate for things that could possibly come up while were in there. A double firewall forward job on a twin is no small project, I just don't want to be surprised with a myriad of "well, while we're in there" type of items. Things that come to mind are possibly overhauling the exhaust system, the engine mounts, various parts of the fuel system, the control cables, etc. The list really can go on and on and on. I've decided to go with factory remanufactured engines despite some anecdotal stories I've heard about various cylinder problems with factory motors. At this point I'd rather pay a bit more for a known quantity than deal with potential upcharges for the case/crank. The factory lead time right now is 6 weeks, and I want to make sure I have the plane back for BPPP in late April, so I've gotta make a final decision here soon... I'll definitely be taking tons of pictures and following along with the project which is another reason why I'm going with a local shop.